Antwerp, 1603. Original copper engraving, published in a Latin text edition of the "Theatrum Orbis Terrarum". Finely hand-colored in wash and outline. Six maps on one plate. A very good example in excellent condition. A very good example in vivid handcolor. Minor lightstaining outside the image. 365 by 478mm (14¼ by 18¾ inches).

"First edition, the superb Macclesfield copy bound in contemporary vellum gilt, of this important work by "Elizabethan London's most curious student of nature" (Harkness, p. 8), which first introduced the process of making coke from coal, a technological innovation that proved crucial in the industrial revolution. This is an extremely rare book - indeed, this is probably the only surviving perfect copy (see below). "The technique of making coke from coal [was] suggested in 1603 by Hugh Plat as a process similar to making charcoal from wood" (Osborne, p. 234). "Coke's superior crushing strength allowed blast furnaces to become taller and larger. The ensuing availability of inexpensive iron was one of the factors leading to the industrial revolution" (Newgera, p. 89). "Plat's approach to his many collaborators and the natural knowledge they shared with him was rigorous, and prefigures in significant ways ... the scientific method" (Harkness, p. 214). "Plat's work should not be interpreted as a weak anticipation of [Francis] Bacon but as a very strong stimulus to Bacon's philosophy of science" (Conner, p. 300). ESTC locates copies at British Library [lacks A1], Bodleian [lacks A1, ex Juel-Jensen], Birmingham University [lacks A1]; Marsh's Library Dublin [missing], Glasgow University [apparently lacking one leaf - presumably A1 - as pagination is given as 30 pp.], Folger [sheet A frayed, affecting title & text; ex Sion College], Huntington [lacks A1]; no other copy located in auction records. OCLC lists Glasgow and Huntington only.<br/><br/> <i>Provenance</i>: The Earls of Macc
… [Click Below for Full Description]

N.d. [1603]. Lima. Antonio Ricardo. In folio (316 mm x 220 mm). 4 pp. Modern vellum. Moderate damp staining and edge wear, not affecting; extensive contemporary transmittal notes on final 2 pages. First edition. An extremely rare and early Peruvian imprint with a strong South American ethnological content: Velasco complains intensely on the poor treatment of South American Indians, claiming they are being held as captives, treated as slaves, and deprived of religious evangelization. The Yanaconas was a term used by the Spanish to refer to the Quechua Indians used in the encomiendas, or to refer to those employed in servitude; however it was a rather ambiguous term, which was also used pejoratively in other parts of South America. Originally, the Yanaconas [also Yanakuna or Yana] were the Indians from the Inca Empire under the employment of the Inca or the religious establishment, who previously worked the ayllu system; some were granted social status and could own land. The Yanaconas were far from slaves, which the imprint denounces in full outright criticism as to the way they were being treated as of late by the Spanish. The Yanaconas favored the Spanish from an early stage, and forged an alliance with them, even in detriment of their former system of hierarchy and Inca nobility, aiding the Spanish defeat the Incas. This imprint, besides being important from a historical point of view, and dealing with a rather scarcely treated subject (that of rightful treatment of Indians workers), is as well extremely rare and one of the earliest produces of the first South American
… [Click Below for Full Description]

Woodcut port. of the author on title. 6 p.l., 422 (i.e. 316), [6] pp. 12mo, mid-18th-cent. dark olive morocco (minor & mostly marginal dampstaining), triple gilt fillet round sides with a gilt fleuron in each corner, flat spine gilt, a.e.g. Rouen: J. Besongne, 1603. First edition and quite uncommon. Duval (ca. 1555-ca. 1615), a local physician and professor of medicine, wrote several other interesting medical books including one on hermaphroditism. In the present work, Duval surveys the springs of Rouen and the nearby surrounding towns. For each spring, the author describes regimens of bathing and drinking the waters, medical benefits for each spring, etc. There is much on the chemical composition of each spring. A very good copy. Some side notes cropped. Bookplates of "HR" and "L." â§ Krivatsky 3587. .

appresso Giorgio Greco, Venice, 1603. EXCELLENT EDITION WITH WOODCUT ASTRONOMICAL DIAGRAMS AND TABLES 4to. pp. (xvi), 449 (i.e.439) (i).Italic letter. Woodcut printers device on title, floriated woodcut initials woodcut and typographical headpieces, small woodcut astrological diagrams with several astrological tables, early monogram G.N.P. in blank margin of title price? 3.10 below. Light age yellowing, some very light browning in places, tiny tear in outer blank margin of title. A very good, clean copy in contemporary vellum over boards, all edges speckled red. Excellent edition of Zappullos description of the four principal cities of the world appended with a long and important description of the New World. "The first edition of a turn of the century, Counter -Reformation history of the three principal cities in the world - Jerusalem Rome and Naples, published in Naples in 1598 by Michele Zappullo, brings together Naples classical inheritance and the common view of successive epochs. Zappullo recounts world history as a succession of ages in the light of Gods intervention into human affairs. According to Zappullo, whereas Jerusalem was sacred to the Jews, . Rome was the seat of the gentile . Naples on the other hand proved to be the first city of Europe converted to Christianity and the refuge of Christianity during the persecution of the primitive church, and since then has remained steadfast in its ancient faith. . And with the passing of 1600 without an end to the world, Zappullos subsequent editions were able to expand his argument to the spread of Christianity to
… [Click Below for Full Description]

John Windet, Printer to the Honorable Citie of London, London 1603 - .[title cont'd].Since by the same Author increased by divers rare notes of Antiquity, and published in the yeare, 1603. Also an Apologie (or defence) against the opinion of some men, concerning that Citie, the greatnesse thereof. With an Appendix, contayning in Latine "Libellum de Situ & nobilitate Londini": Written by William Fitzstephen, in the raigneof Henry the second ; scarce; re-backed ca. 1800's with original boards but replaced brown calf spine; lettering in gilt on spine within a red leather label; all gilt is bright; four raised bands; spine is square; end papers replaced at time of re-backing; attractive bookplate of a previous owner; title page which appears to have been delicate was strengthened by being mounted on a blank leaf of old paper and bound in at time of re-backing; previous owners name, notation and ink splashes on title page; light age toning only and almost no foxing due to high quality of printer's paper; [1] title, 598 pp followed by an errata page but not so entitled but rather [in 1603] "Faults escaped in this booke"; hinges tight; Chapters include Bridges, Gates, Towers, Schooles, Sports and Pastimes, The antiquities, The wall about the Citie, Orders and Customs of Citizens, various wardes eg. Cornhill warde, Billingsgate warde, Cheape warde, Aldgate warde, Cripplegate warde etc., Shiriffes, Companies, Hospitals, The suburbs without the walls of the Citie, Liveries worne by Citizens etc. etc. [Attributes: Hard Cover]

1603 - Antwerp: Jan Baptist Vrients, 1603, Latin edition. Original colour. 350 x 500mm. A fine example. An early map of the East Indies, detailing India, China and Japan, Indochina and Indonesia. The Spice Islands are shown out of proportion, highlighting their importance. Top right, near an unrecognisable depiction of Japan, is the west coast of America; bottom right is a huge 'New Guinea; and bottom centre is the enigmatic 'Beach, pars continentis Australis'. The map has a decorative strapwork title, a banner containing a description of the Moluccas, and vignettes of mermaids and sea monsters attacking a galleon. The map was published in the 'Theatrum Orbis Terrarum', regarded as the first atlas in the modern sense of the word, with the maps designed to fit the book. VAN DEN BROECKE: 166; WALTER: 11d.

Valladolid: Impresso por los herederos de Diego Fernandez de Cordoua Folio (27 cm; 10.5"). [4], 207, 110 ff. (without final blank and without the maps).. 1603Â–1599 Botero (1540Â–1617) was an Italian thinker, priest, poet, and diplomat, and after 1580 an expelled Jesuit. His Relaciones universales del mondo, originally published 1594 to 1595 in Italian, tells of the "universal church" (i.e., Catholicism) in various parts of the world, including America, the Old World, India, the circum-Mediterranean, Africa, China, the Philippines, Japan, and Southeast Asia, but also England, Scotland, Ireland, and "the realm of Prester John." More than a few scholars view this as one of the first demographic studies. This first edition, second issue in Spanish is the translation of Diego de Aguiar. It is composed of the sheets of first edition of 1600Â–1599 with a new title-page. Printed in roman type, double-column format, it offers a liberal sprinkling of large woodcut initials, some of which are historiated. Provenance: 19th-century private ownership stamp on verso of title-leaf; bookplate of the John Carter Brown Library (with small release stamp) on the front pastedown. 18th-century mottled sheep, raised bands, gilt spine extra; spine gorgeously bright and covers with some abrasions. Title-page and final leaf with foremargins excised and the leaves mounted; first folio 113 with short tears repaired with with cello tape now darkened. Occasional foxing and the other odd spot or stain only; all edges red and a blue ribbon placemarker. A text volume only, this lacks the maps and is priced
… [Click Below for Full Description]

Bibl. Belg. V, pp. 471-472; New Hollstein, H. Hondius 157-208; Orenstein, Hendrik Hondius, esp. pp. 64-65; Van Someren 169c; NNBW XIII, cols. 805-807; Thieme & Becker XVII, pp. 435-436. First issue of the first Dutch edition of a rare and very fine portrait gallery of all great reformers of the Church. The series includes portraits of John Wycliff, Johannas Hus, Savonarola, Erasmus, Luther, Melanchthon, Zwingli, Sebastian Munster, John Knox, Calvin, Marnix van Sint Aldegonde, and Beza. To all portraits a short biography is added, some laudatory verses, and a list of their work published.Some minor stains, the title-page slightly damaged and quire Mm bound after Nn. Binding slightly stained and recased with early 20th-century endpapers. A good copy of a great work.

Venice: apud Io. Baptistam Ciottum, 1603. Later printing. Clavius, Christophorus. In sphaeram Ioannis de Sacro Bosco commentarius. 4to. [32], 483, [1] pp. Woodcut text illustrations. Limp vellum c. 1603. Minor foxing and toning, but very good. Seventh edition. Clavius (1538-1612), a member of the Jesuit order, was one of the most respected astronomers in Europe. He was the main architect of the Gregorian calendar (which we use today), and his astronomical textbooks were widely used for over fifty years. His commentary on the "Sphaera" of Sacrobosco, first published in 1570, demonstrates his adherence to the geocentric model of the universe.

Frankfurt, Ex Officina Paltheniana sumtibus heredum Petri Fischeri, 1603. 8vo. 276 unnumbered leaves. 18th century red morocco. 19.5 cm (Ref: VD17 12:129968D; Brunet 4,833; Ebert 17828; Graesse 5,421) (Details: Back elaborately gilt with floral motives in the compartments, and with 5 raised bands. Boards with an elaborate wide gilt floral border. Inside gilt dentelles. Edges of the boards and of the book gilt. Marbled endpapers. Woodcut printer's mark on title, depicting a winged stag that jumps over an hourglass, on its back a man, who holds in his left hand a coiling serpent, and in his right a sickel, and above their head the word 'tempus'. Greek and Latin text printed in double column) (Condition: The back is restored in a most tasteful and skillful way, hardly visible for the naked eye. Some scratches on the boards, a bigger one on the upper board. 2 small wormholes in the lower margin of the first 75 leaves. Bookplate on the front pastedown. Partly with browning paper, else a very handsome copy) (Note: Aemilius Portus, 1550-1614, was a famous classical philologist of Greek-Italian descent. His father came from Crete to Italy to teach Greek. Aemilius was appointed professor of Greek at the University of Heidelberg in 1596. He published a great number of works, translations, commentaries and editions of Aristophanes, Thucydides, Xenophon, Dionysius Halicarnessensis, Homer. He even found time to do lexicographic work. In 1603 he published a 'Dictionarium Ionicum graecolatinum' and a 'Dictionarium Doricum graecolatinum', and in 1606 a 'lexicon Pindaricum'. No wonder that
… [Click Below for Full Description]